Enigma IPA

Named for the fact that there was seemingly no way it reached the ABV that it got to, the Enigma IPA is the house brew for Big Beard Brewing. The maiden voyage of the Enigma IPA was a SMASH brew. Originally brewed with just Pale Ale DME and Chinook hops, this IPA was clean and tasty but simple. For the second session, I've added some Caramel steeping grain and switched to some Citra hops for dry hopping. This is a living recipe that will change each and every session until it's perfect.

First Brew:

First brew session on this yesterday 5/17/2020.

I forgot to get distilled water so I used our city water. OG was closer to 1.070 with the same amount of DME as listed. Still pitched the originally planned two packets of West Coast Ale yeast. Oxygenated with an air pump for 20 minutes. Sprinkled yeast into wort and then gently stirred. Pitched the yeast a little warm at about 85 degrees; put the fermenter into the keezer to cool it down quickly.

Day 1:

Active fermentation started very quickly; started getting bubbles in the airlock after about two hours. Very active fermentation after about twelve hours. Fermentation temperature was a very consistent 68 degree F.

Day 4:

Highly active fermentation for about 48 hours followed by a clear slowdown over the next 24 hours. Gravity testing confirmed I widely underestimated my OG and how efficient this yeast would be. OG 1.070 & Current Gravity 1.007. Estimated ABV @ 8.2%. My guess is that the yeast efficiency was closer to 90%. Aroma is pretty great so far although my samples are coming from close to the bottom of a conical fermentor so there's a lot of trub. Trying to resist the urge to dry hop today and package over the weekend; one week isn't nearly enough for my yeast to clean up but it's tempting.

Day 9: Dry hopped 1 oz of Chinook pellet hops. Fermentor is sitting a little warm at 75 degrees. Moving it to the basement until it's ready for the cold crash. Flavor and aroma are surprisingly balanced. I thought with the high alcohol I would need more hops in the boil but maybe not.

Day 11: Cold crashed at 35 degrees for 24 hours. Transferred to keg and force carbed with the rocking method for about 2 minutes then set the gas to serving level to carb over the next few days.

It's actually very good. Needs more body. Definitely want to add some caramel malt. The hops work pretty well but I think I'll change the dry hopping hops to Cascade. It's not too boozy for the high alcohol content I ended up with. With some tweaks this will be perfect.

Recipe Notes:

Switched out the dry hopping hops to Citra.

Added 1lb of Caramel Crystal 20L Steeping Grains and subtracted 1lb of DME.